Mapping Interventions for NEET young people in England (MINE)

Overview

This longitudinal research project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, aims to understand the nature and scope of early intervention programmes targeted at young people ‘at risk’ of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training). It will provide the first comprehensive national picture of early intervention provision focusing specifically on the typology of intervention, target groups and prediction tools used to identify young people at risk. Both short and longer term outcomes for young people will be recorded to explore the factors that make particular interventions effective. Additionally, it will foreground the voices of young people accessing provision using a longitudinal ethnographic approach. This will provide an understanding of how their experiences of early interventions connect with previous school experience and later experiences of education and the labour market.

Methods

This is a three stage mixed methods research project comprising of a mapping phase, a school based data collection phase and a post-16 data collection phase. Data will be generated with research participants in six social sites of investigation across England using an ethnographic approach. This will involve semi structured interviews with young people, observations and extensive fieldnotes. The views of key stakeholders will be gathered through semi-structured interviews.

Outcomes

Findings from the project can be accessed through this webpage. We will provide regular updates here and a newsletter (click here to join our mailing list), journal articles, a monograph and an international conference in 2026.

Find out more about the research outputs and associated activities on the project page on the Huddersfield Research Portal. 

The research team

Dr LIsa Russell, head and shoulders profile outside the Lockside building

Professor Lisa Russell

Principal Investigator (PI)

Read Lisa's full profile
Dr Ron Thompson, head and shoulders profile outside the Lockside Building

Dr Ron Thompson

Co-investigator (CoI)

Read Ron's full profile

Dr Katherine Davey

Senior Research Fellow

Read Katherine's full profile
Early Childhood and Education Senior Lecturer, Jo Bishop

Dr Jo Bishop

Senior Lecturer

Read Jo's full profile

Image competition

Young people with experience of being NEET were invited to enter a competition to develop an image depicting what it felt like. A prize for the competition was generously provided by Oxford Ethnography and Education. The two paintings by the winning artist, aged 18, and her own words, illustrate how she felt whilst NEET and how her perspective has changed since attending a support programme.

Left

It’s a tough piece. I have a love/hate relationship with it because I like it, but I hate what it is. It’s like it’s messy on purpose, everything was a mess. It’s a bit muddy on purpose, because, you know, I don’t really know what I’m doing, and no one really did. Everything was tough. I don’t know, there’s just so much like weighing me down and holding me back from actually trying things.

 

Right

This is a happier piece, it’s a better piece. It’s me coming to terms with the fact that, you know, sometimes things wear you down. You know, she’s still chained down, she’s still suffering, but she’s, you know, she’s embracing it a bit more. Even though there’s still, you know, that darkness, or that sadness, and whatever, she’s still striving to do better and be a better person.

Two watercolour paintings, the first on a dark pink and black background showing a ballerina in chains, the second the same ballerina on a lighter blue background breaking some of the chains

Advisory Board

 

Huddersfield Research Portal

Read about the activities and research outputs associated with the project on the Huddersfield Research Portal. 

 

Funded by a Research Project Grant from the Leverhulme Trust (2021-26)

Ref: RPG-2021-144

Logo of the Leverhulme Trust